Despite snowstorm, Seaside Heights open for business

SEASIDE HEIGHTS — Seaside Heights is open for business, even if the Nor'easter scared everyone away.

At the corner of Ocean Terrace and DuPont Avenue, just 100 yards from where the ocean was roiling during high tide, the town's famous dueling cheese steak places were open for business, if you can call it that.

The mustard-colored concrete bunker that is home to "The Original Steaks," which claims to be "Est. Since the Early 50's" was all lit up inside with a lone cook and counterman waiting for customers. Across the street, "Steaks Unlimited" which is sub-billed as "The One, The Only, The Original" was aglow in fluorescent light, but also short on walk-ins.

Across the street on the boardwalk side — before the boardwalk was lifted away by Hurricane Sandy — the Beachcomber Bar was lit in cool blue and neon beer logos in the windows. Inside a half-dozen regulars sat at the bar.

"We opened in December and we've been pretty busy, especially weekends," said Michael Carbone who owns the bar with his father, also Michael. "We got some our regulars back and all the contractors."

But the wind and rain — while not as bad as first feared — damped the normally busy Friday night.

The bar used to open out onto the boardwalk, which is now gone. Across a pathway of sand, the old Beach Bar is empty and condemned, it's pier pilings, being swallowed up by the high tide.

"I think we'll be okay tonight, but I'm not sure the Beach Bar is gonna make it," Carbone said.

To add to surreality of Seaside during the storm was this scene: in an empty lot near where the roller coaster remains in the water, a collection of the boardwalk giant-sized figurines are stored while the piers are rebuilt. Paul Bunyan, Indiana Jones, Captain Hook and Mighty Mouse, are huddled there with a Viking warrior.

Across the way, the 20-foot tall Alfred E. Newman lookalike from one of the miniature golf places, lies on his back. Near him was a mound of a few hundred stuffed animals, junk for sure, especially after being drenched by the all day rain.